“We’re so excited,” Indian Hills resident Christine McKinnon said while watching her 2-year-old son, Nicholas, play at Arrowhead Park on April 28.

Nicholas and other youngsters were enjoying the Kittredge park with its newly installed equipment during the Evergreen Park and Recreation District’s opening celebration. Children climbed on friendly looking bear statues, tried out a rope course and glided down the shiny sliding board in the early-afternoon sun.

Following is a list of current qualifiers, as listed by MaxPreps, for the state track and field championships, scheduled for May 17-19 at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood. Only the top 18 qualifiers by the deadline of May 12 will qualify for state in their respective classification and category.

GOLDEN — On one hand, it could be looked at as underachieving. But when the Evergreen Lady Cougars’ girls golf team sets goals prior to a tournament, like it did for the Ashley Forey Invitational on April 30 at Rolling Hills Country Club, it’s probably more ambitious than anything else.
The course got the better of Evergreen on this day, but not before the Lady Cougars’ foursome got in one last-minute tuneup before regionals.

LAKEWOOD — The Evergreen girls’ soccer team was defeated by Green Mountain 3-1 on April 27 at Lakewood Memorial Field. The Lady Cougars’ loss was especially hard to swallow given that, going into their matchup, Evergreen and Green Mountain were the only undefeated teams left in the 4A Jeffco League.
The win locked up the conference title for Green Mountain, which improved to 12-0-1 overall, 8-0-1 in league play.

LAKEWOOD — Winning a boys lacrosse conference championship is uncharted territory for Columbine. It had never happened before. And though the Rebels knew what was on the line when they played Evergreen on April 25 at Trailblazer Stadium, they also knew it wouldn’t come easy.
And it didn’t. But Columbine stayed the course and a third-period flurry would be all it would need to make history.

The naturalist John Muir wrote, “The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.” Many of us came to the Front Range foothills to find ourselves, and nature has been the common path. Our mountain community is just about paradise on Earth, and as the Denver Post weather page and building both acclaim, “ ’Tis a privilege to live in Colorado.”
The Lower North Fork fire was a reminder that with privilege comes responsibility. Fire mitigation is on everyone’s minds, but will it be enough?

The proposed Jefferson Parkway does not meet smart 21st-century sustainable transportation goals, according to the League of Women Voters of Jefferson County. “We oppose the proposed private toll road on many levels,” said League president Ann Roux. “It fails our tests for adequate public input and transparency, government accountability, and economic sustainability.”
The League’s opposition to the proposed parkway stems from its in-depth study of the toll road, and is based on its consensus-driven standards for evaluating any highway proposal.